CTMA draws

Talks to purchase 100 percent of the Conemaugh Township's water from Greater Johnstown drew harsh criticism from some residents Monday night.

At the heart was not the price or the proposed source, but problems within the Conemaugh Township Municipal Authority's own system that have yet to be repaired.

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CTMA chairman John Mastillo made several promises to the system's customers during the meeting, including addressing water loss issues first, before jumping into an agreement.

"We're a long way from having any contract. This is a fact-finding mission tonight," he said.

The Greater Johnstown Water Authority presented a proposal offering the CTMA water for $1.15 per thousand gallons.

"All we want to do is help and we're here to help out again," said GJWA chairman Ed Cernic.

0002000004BF0000036A4B9,Engineer Ed Schmitt said the GJWA has a surplus of water to work with and that's why it can offer the lower rate for bulk quantities of water.

Adjustments to systems would be made by each party, with each responsible for their part of the line to get water flowing.

"Our offer is to get water to your systemâ?¦ We don't work on your system," he said. The likely scenario is to pump water to the Jerome and Davidsville pump stations.

The rate would remain steady during the first five years. After that any adjustments to the rate would be based on chemical and electrical figures in an index formula the GJWA has.

"We're not just randomly changing it. We're going long-term," he said. "We'd lock that rate in for five years."

The contract could be reopened ever five years.

"I'm sure we're all anxious to see if we can cut down on our water bills," said Mastillo. "Whatever we do to go ahead and save on the water bills. Whatever we do to make the water more pure, it benefits everybody."

He said employees keep their jobs, while water rates will be lower.

"We're not here to give this water authority away and Johnstown knows that," said Mastillo. "We're eliminating a lot of things if the price is right."

00020000077900000823773,Davidsville resident Tom Ravenscraft said he doesn't understand the rush to commit to Greater Johnstown.

"How can you dicker to another company if you don't know how much our system is losing?" he asked.

He asked the board why lines and meters weren't fixed to eliminate waste before beginning talks.

"If we're losing that kind of water, we don't need anybody else's water," said Ravenscraft. "Our problem is in-house. They're not at the stage yet to deal with Johnstown."

Recently, the CTMA's own office manager said that the system has filtered 151 million gallons of water since February and had only billed for 82 million by October.

Authority members don't deny there is a loss, but state the issue is not only leaks, but old meters as well. Mastillo said there are approximately 800 meters scheduled to be replaced as time allows.

The amount of the water loss has not been confirmed by the CTMA board or its engineers.

Ravenscraft feels there is a rush to get into an agreement with Greater Johnstown.

He said the CTMA already has a current contract with GJWA to purchase 100,000 gallons of water per day. That contract was extended several times during the last year until the system was prepared to accept the water beginning Nov. 1.

"If they can't pump 100,000 how are they going to pump 550,000?," he asked. "Are they going to sign another agreement that we get locked into and can't get out of?"

CTMA customer and Benson Borough resident Andy Hummel said he's in favor of lower rates and assumes many people would be. But first he thinks the system problems need to be addressed.

"The only way I feel that's ever going to be taken care ofâ?¦ I think the majority of people in this room want to find out where the water you're losing is going," said Hummel. "Find out where these leaks are, where the extra water is going to."